So I covered tonight at Sun and was lucky enough to be visited by some very knowledgeable people. I was visited tonight by Eric and Joseph (sp?) from Haus Alpenz LLC. Granted I braved danger in what we we're doing, but it was a worthwhile endeavor. As stupid as it sounds I really enjoy being explained things that I don't fully understand. I got to play around with and tried their Pear Williams Purkhart Alto Adige Eau-de-Vie, Batavia Arrack van Oosten, Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, and had some of The Scarlet Ibis Trinidad Rum. All the product info is here..
All in all my totals were leet.
The recipe highlight of the night was......
the Reveillon Cocktail:
1 1/2 oz. Applejack
1/2 oz. Pear Eau-de-Vie
1/2 oz. Allspice Dram
1/2 - 1 oz. Punt e Mes (depending on taste)
1-2 dashes Agnostura Bitters
Friday, June 27, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
So is life. (Opinions are Assholes v.2)
Had the conversation about the new job with my owner and things look like they are going to work out.
Had a thrill when just after open the best bartender in town sat down at my bar and ordered a beer. Had a short time to kill and said he'd come see me at Sun this week for the umpteenth time. It was the second time I got to serve him a beer for the second time in my life, the first being a few years ago while working for Pagliacci. After a generous tip I was really excited for the night to come. Whatever, I'll end the fanboy rant.
What followed was the slowest most painful night I have done in forever. to quote Tucker Max it was like masturbating with sandpaper. (opinion piece#2) The kicker was at 1am when we had done last call, a bartender I recognized came in with her guy and wanted just one drink. We exchanged pleasantries and then I broke everything back out and made her a bellini and her guy a rum and coke that was basically a double and was tipped 20%..... on a 14$ tab.... really? the 2 extra bucks to leave a fiver was too much? I am an asshole at times. the rub was them hanging out til after the servers had left and the music was off and lights were out... yada, yada, yada...... Lemme just say the tip from the fanboy rant was 1/3 of my night. Dealing with girl issues but now i'm sleeping.
Had a thrill when just after open the best bartender in town sat down at my bar and ordered a beer. Had a short time to kill and said he'd come see me at Sun this week for the umpteenth time. It was the second time I got to serve him a beer for the second time in my life, the first being a few years ago while working for Pagliacci. After a generous tip I was really excited for the night to come. Whatever, I'll end the fanboy rant.
What followed was the slowest most painful night I have done in forever. to quote Tucker Max it was like masturbating with sandpaper. (opinion piece#2) The kicker was at 1am when we had done last call, a bartender I recognized came in with her guy and wanted just one drink. We exchanged pleasantries and then I broke everything back out and made her a bellini and her guy a rum and coke that was basically a double and was tipped 20%..... on a 14$ tab.... really? the 2 extra bucks to leave a fiver was too much? I am an asshole at times. the rub was them hanging out til after the servers had left and the music was off and lights were out... yada, yada, yada...... Lemme just say the tip from the fanboy rant was 1/3 of my night. Dealing with girl issues but now i'm sleeping.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sentimental Trash
I've got good news and bad news:
The good news is I got a call yesterday from the interview I had a while back and was offered the job. I cannot express how happy and scared I am at the same time. I can't tell you all the details yet ( "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you" ), but the basics are its going to be an Americana themed gastropub focusing and centered on whisk(e)ys and specializing on food pairing with cocktails. I have told that my hiring is based on the fact I realize that wine and food pairing is my weakest link(goodbye) and I need to pick it up in that department. I hate drinking wine, hence I have a soft basis to work on. Wine makes me a weird drunk. I also have been big on my drink having more than one thing poured from a bottle. Call me crazy. I'm looking forward to working like a Jamacian
Aside: Casey is the last barman poet.
The bad news is FFXI maintenance is underway..... also I have to figure out about dropping a day at the Sitting Room. Not looking forward to that conversation later.
Now for the sentimental trash aspect. For as long as I remember I have had a fascination with hanging on to empty bottles from really good times when they were emptied. When the lady was nice enough to clean my apartment I LOST THE MAJORITY of my empty bottle collection. I see this as a blessing in disguise, but gone are such bottles as the Fernet I got as my first Christmas bonus from Sun, also the last Heineken served at Sun ( which I stole before I worked there ), The bottle from the batch of applejack I made for my family on mothers day, a bottle of wine which I got on a first date at Chez Gaudy but opened at Artemis, etc. etc. etc....... I thought them being thrown away would be a bigger deal but I guess I'm over it =D
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Responsibility, what's that?
So I really wanted my second MxMo post to be a spectacular one. I wanted to find the most delicious and obscure recipe that no one had ever heard of and make it my own. Unfortunately and fortunately I've been busy in real life.
Bourbon.
As american as apple pie, jazz and most importantly.... the cocktail. The official spirit of the USA by an act of congress ( the bottles-in-bond act of 1897). The first ever federal act of consumer protection. Think about that the next time you order ANYTHING at a restaurant.
Lately I have been making a lot of Juleps with Booker's", recommending the hell out of Jeffrey Morganthalers Bourbon Renewal, and enjoying a TON of bourbon.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love to enjoy bourbon in 2 ways. Naturally I respect the spirit for what it is and try some straight. That's how I roll.
I also really enjoy bourbon on the rocks. I usually drink it that way with a splash of water. I've been told, I have read, and have tons of experience drinking it this way. Evan Williams black and water is still a staple.
I am currently enjoying a glass of the Black Maple Hill Bourbon and wondering why life has been so good the past week. I'm playing music again and we have 2 songs written. I've been kinda seeing someone ( see the I'm on fire! post ) and while I was at work today she cleaned my apartment for me. Not the" i'm a lazy guy, "i'll do laundry and throw away the beer cans kind of clean.", the My dvd's are n order and my bookshelf is uncluttered and i believed alphabetized. She's moving to Oregon in less than two weeks and I'm kinda bummed.
I also returned home tonight to check my mail and find my copy of Beck : Mongolian Chop Squad and what Can I say? I've found a new level of geekdom. An anime about starting a band.
Drunken ramblings aside,
I did make something I was sorta happy about and its named after a hilarious segment in my favorite web comic Achewood. I give you the Hick Tipple
2oz. Bourbon ( my well is Jim Beam )
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
3-4 dashes Fee Bros. Mint Bitters
Bourbon.
As american as apple pie, jazz and most importantly.... the cocktail. The official spirit of the USA by an act of congress ( the bottles-in-bond act of 1897). The first ever federal act of consumer protection. Think about that the next time you order ANYTHING at a restaurant.
Lately I have been making a lot of Juleps with Booker's", recommending the hell out of Jeffrey Morganthalers Bourbon Renewal, and enjoying a TON of bourbon.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, I love to enjoy bourbon in 2 ways. Naturally I respect the spirit for what it is and try some straight. That's how I roll.
I also really enjoy bourbon on the rocks. I usually drink it that way with a splash of water. I've been told, I have read, and have tons of experience drinking it this way. Evan Williams black and water is still a staple.
I am currently enjoying a glass of the Black Maple Hill Bourbon and wondering why life has been so good the past week. I'm playing music again and we have 2 songs written. I've been kinda seeing someone ( see the I'm on fire! post ) and while I was at work today she cleaned my apartment for me. Not the" i'm a lazy guy, "i'll do laundry and throw away the beer cans kind of clean.", the My dvd's are n order and my bookshelf is uncluttered and i believed alphabetized. She's moving to Oregon in less than two weeks and I'm kinda bummed.
I also returned home tonight to check my mail and find my copy of Beck : Mongolian Chop Squad and what Can I say? I've found a new level of geekdom. An anime about starting a band.
Drunken ramblings aside,
I did make something I was sorta happy about and its named after a hilarious segment in my favorite web comic Achewood. I give you the Hick Tipple
2oz. Bourbon ( my well is Jim Beam )
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
3-4 dashes Fee Bros. Mint Bitters
Thursday, June 12, 2008
I'm in the weekly!
I was graced by the wonderful writers from the weekly last week and recieved a great write-up from the people who write Voracious : First Call
A weekly Voracious feature in which we walk into a bar unannounced and ask the bartender to make us his or her favorite drink.
Watering Hole: The Sitting Room in Lower Queen Anne
Barkeep: Kevin Langmack
Pick Your Poison: The Sitting Room is this adorable little bistro — and a boon to anyone wanting to spend a little time on Lower Queen Anne but wanting to avoid the tail-hunters. The appetizer happy hour menu is generous and the decor rather lovely. My only beef with the place is the acoustics. There isn’t enough fabric or give in the room to absorb noise, so the din can make hearing a little difficult. I explained the First Call rules a couple of times before Langmark caught exactly what I was trying to say. Once he understood, he offered, “I have this really delicious pear cocktail that I’ve been working on.”
"Beer cocktail?" I replied incredulously, visions of Irish Car Bombs and Snakebites filling my head — not exactly what I’d expected (or hoped for) at this quaint little eatery.
"No. Pear!" he reiterated, with a game chuckle.
"Oh!" I laughed back. Whew.
Langmark explained that the bar got a supply of Absolute Pear Vodka, but hadn’t really been using it for anything. So he poured a shot in a shaker with simple syrup, a pear coulis (puree), and a dash of Ricard Pastis, an anise liquor.
"Something fun in summertime," Langmack said, both of us taking a moment to pause and pray to any and all deities we could think of that summer actually arrives at some point. "I think it’s a good time for drinking."
So what do you call this lovely looking concoction? The Whippersnapper.
Summertime and the living is? So very easy. I was a little hesitant about a drink starring any kind of fruit puree, but Langmack knows there’s more to a sweet cocktail than a sugar assault. The anise gave the whole thing a nice brightness. My drinking buddy Sarah regarded the drink as I gingerly made my way back to the table, desperately trying not to spill (and failing). "It smells like Bath and Body Works," she observed. "In a good way."
But it certainly tasted far more elegant than the store where I outfitted my first apartment bathroom (all subsequent bathrooms featured Soap by Safeway). In keeping with our commitment to summer despite the frigid temperature, Sarah was sipping a Hoegaarden. But she took a break to try my bright-green cocktail.
"I like it," she said, licking her lips. "Umm, you can have my Hoegaarden."
Altogether it was four very enthusiastic thumbs up for Langmack's Whippersnapper. Just think how great it will be if the mercury ever tops 75!
p.s. I like how they get my name right half of the time.
A weekly Voracious feature in which we walk into a bar unannounced and ask the bartender to make us his or her favorite drink.
Watering Hole: The Sitting Room in Lower Queen Anne
Barkeep: Kevin Langmack
Pick Your Poison: The Sitting Room is this adorable little bistro — and a boon to anyone wanting to spend a little time on Lower Queen Anne but wanting to avoid the tail-hunters. The appetizer happy hour menu is generous and the decor rather lovely. My only beef with the place is the acoustics. There isn’t enough fabric or give in the room to absorb noise, so the din can make hearing a little difficult. I explained the First Call rules a couple of times before Langmark caught exactly what I was trying to say. Once he understood, he offered, “I have this really delicious pear cocktail that I’ve been working on.”
"Beer cocktail?" I replied incredulously, visions of Irish Car Bombs and Snakebites filling my head — not exactly what I’d expected (or hoped for) at this quaint little eatery.
"No. Pear!" he reiterated, with a game chuckle.
"Oh!" I laughed back. Whew.
Langmark explained that the bar got a supply of Absolute Pear Vodka, but hadn’t really been using it for anything. So he poured a shot in a shaker with simple syrup, a pear coulis (puree), and a dash of Ricard Pastis, an anise liquor.
"Something fun in summertime," Langmack said, both of us taking a moment to pause and pray to any and all deities we could think of that summer actually arrives at some point. "I think it’s a good time for drinking."
So what do you call this lovely looking concoction? The Whippersnapper.
Summertime and the living is? So very easy. I was a little hesitant about a drink starring any kind of fruit puree, but Langmack knows there’s more to a sweet cocktail than a sugar assault. The anise gave the whole thing a nice brightness. My drinking buddy Sarah regarded the drink as I gingerly made my way back to the table, desperately trying not to spill (and failing). "It smells like Bath and Body Works," she observed. "In a good way."
But it certainly tasted far more elegant than the store where I outfitted my first apartment bathroom (all subsequent bathrooms featured Soap by Safeway). In keeping with our commitment to summer despite the frigid temperature, Sarah was sipping a Hoegaarden. But she took a break to try my bright-green cocktail.
"I like it," she said, licking her lips. "Umm, you can have my Hoegaarden."
Altogether it was four very enthusiastic thumbs up for Langmack's Whippersnapper. Just think how great it will be if the mercury ever tops 75!
p.s. I like how they get my name right half of the time.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Broken Hibiscus Bitters
So there is apparently a group of the better bartenders in town all getting together at the end of the month to swap bitters recipes. I have never even attempted making my own bitters before but upon the encouragement of the boss I whipped something that I hope will work. I had a failed attempt at a hibiscus infused vodka about a week ago which left me with 4 oz. of dried hibiscus that I am trying to use on this.
4 oz. of dried hibiscus ( I put mine in loose leaf tea bags ) soaked in regular proof vodka ( I used monarch ) for 2 hours then rinsed at the end.
Place this dried hibiscus in a container with one fifth of 100 proof vodka ( I again used the monarch brand )
1oz dried juniper berries
1oz dried cloves
1oz rainbow peppercorns
1oz almond extract
1oz vanilla extract
rind of one valencia orange
I am currently letting it stand for 2 weeks and will post an update later. I pray this works.
4 oz. of dried hibiscus ( I put mine in loose leaf tea bags ) soaked in regular proof vodka ( I used monarch ) for 2 hours then rinsed at the end.
Place this dried hibiscus in a container with one fifth of 100 proof vodka ( I again used the monarch brand )
1oz dried juniper berries
1oz dried cloves
1oz rainbow peppercorns
1oz almond extract
1oz vanilla extract
rind of one valencia orange
I am currently letting it stand for 2 weeks and will post an update later. I pray this works.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Slacker
I really had meant to make a longer post about the trip to PDX but got sidetracked and the tales have faded into legend. However...
I REMEMBER THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP.
Paddy's
This place has one of the best selections I've ever seen. I had a glass of the Pappy's 13 yr. Rye, managed to finish the rest of their Suntory and upon seeing the St. Germain walked the bartender through a Cooper Cocktail from the food and wine cocktails 2008 edition.
I REMEMBER THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP.
Paddy's
This place has one of the best selections I've ever seen. I had a glass of the Pappy's 13 yr. Rye, managed to finish the rest of their Suntory and upon seeing the St. Germain walked the bartender through a Cooper Cocktail from the food and wine cocktails 2008 edition.
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